Chronic Kidney Disease

[nati85]

Well, I have been to 4 vets now.

All of them stated blood work was fine except one (the lady that did the ultrasound). She says she sees Chronic Kidney Disease in the ultrasound and that I should start treatment.

So now my vet (the one that said that blood work was fine) started fluid therapy (subcutaneous saline solution). She said I should go twice per week for three weeks and repeat blood work and ultrasound.

Uremia 61mg/dl (should be 15-45)
Creatinine 1.76mg/dl (should be less than 1.6)
Protein 8.3g% 5.5-7.6

How does this look to you?
My cat is not dehydrated but could be a preventive measure. Right?

 

[silkenpaw]

How are some of the other values, particularly sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl)?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Just going on the creatinine level, your little one would be at the lower end of stage 2 of kidney disease. Here is a direct quote from felinecrf.org regarding Stage 2:


"Cat in IRIS Stage 1, Stage 2 or the Lower End of Stage 3


If your cat seems to fall into IRIS Stage 1, 2 or the lower end of Stage 3, it is early stage and with proper care and a little luck on your side, your cat could live for years.


Most cats in these stages (creatinine below 3.5-4.0 mg/dl US or 300-350 µmol/L international) will not need subcutaneous fluids and can easily be managed with just a few treatments tailored to the individual cat's needs, e.g. treatment for excess stomach acid, constipation remedies and/or control of elevated phosphorus levels.


If your cat has proteinuria or hypertension, these should be properly controlled.


In all cases, it is essential that your cat eats!"

That site I referenced is my "go to" for pretty much anything kidney related. I've had three kidney cats, and that site (I believe) helped them live longer! I read things then brought them up with our Vet. Here is the link: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat, and here is the exact page I took the quote from: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - How Bad Is It?

 

[nati85]

I adore Tanya's website! I missed that part though.
Thanks

 

[nati85]

How are some of the other values, particularly sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl)?

I don't have that :/
It wasn't tested

 

[Azazel]

If you don't already, feed all wet food. The moisture is critical for KD cats.

 

[nati85]

Is it better canned with phosphorus or dry medicated/renal?

I think there is only one canned food here in Argentina that is renal. And it's too expensive for me.

Can I give him raw meat? Plus one can of cat food? Does meat strain the kidneys because of the protein? Does it have too much phosphorus? My kitty loves chicken. Is it ok to give him cooked chicken?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

If you feed raw, don't feed him bones, because they contain more phosphorus than the meat. I fed one of my kidney cats raw, but switched from bone to egg shell powder for her source of calcium. If you cook the chicken, then you shouldn't feed him the cooked bones anyway, just make sure you feed a balanced diet. At the earlier stages of kidney disease, you don't really need to worry about feeding too much protein, as long as it's a good quality digestible protein, which MEAT is. So are egg whites. I used to add egg whites to my cat's canned food (after she started refusing raw) to help decrease the amount of phosphorus and up the protein to keep her from muscle wasting. The most important thing is to keep them eating, no matter what they eat. That's what my Vet told me. None of ours ever ate the kidney diets. They just didn't like them.

 

[nati85]

If you feed raw, don't feed him bones, because they contain more phosphorus than the meat. I fed one of my kidney cats raw, but switched from bone to egg shell powder for her source of calcium. If you cook the chicken, then you shouldn't feed him the cooked bones anyway, just make sure you feed a balanced diet. At the earlier stages of kidney disease, you don't really need to worry about feeding too much protein, as long as it's a good quality digestible protein, which MEAT is. So are egg whites. I used to add egg whites to my cat's canned food (after she started refusing raw) to help decrease the amount of phosphorus and up the protein to keep her from muscle wasting. The most important thing is to keep them eating, no matter what they eat. That's what my Vet told me. None of ours ever ate the kidney diets. They just didn't like them.

Thank you so much! That was really helpful!
I have just spent USD 10 (in my economy today it's A LOT) in 1kg (2.2lbs) of kidney food that he didn't like. And I was about to try Royal Canin kidney food... but I'd have to buy 2kg (4.4lbs) and spend like USD20 and maybe he doesn't like it and I'm stuck with 3kg of food.

Did you use raw egg whites?

 

[xcourtney3]

Egg whites need to be fully cooked

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I did use both raw and cooked egg whites. Sometimes I would cook them and try to chop them and blend them with her food. She wasn't so fond of them that way. If I used them raw, I could simply put her canned food into a Magic Bullet with about one egg white and blend that up and she was none the wiser. xcourtney3 , raw eggs go into many raw food recipes, so not sure why you say they need to be fully cooked BUT, for a kidney cat, perhaps you are right, since the raw whites do contain something that can interfere with the absorption of Vitamin B, and kidney cats are often low on Vitamin B . I guess it's a matter of how many are given, etc. Best to be safe, huh?

 

[xcourtney3]

I'm not sure, but on the Feline Chronic Kidney Disease facebook group they say raw yolk is fine but whites should be cooked

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm not sure, but on the Feline Chronic Kidney Disease facebook group they say raw yolk is fine but whites should be cooked

I'll bet it's because of the Vitamin B. Most kidney cats end up needing Vitamin B shots.

 

[molly92]

I'm new to CKD too, but this page was reassuring to me about raw and CKD in general:
Phosphorus Can Be Key for Kidneys

 

[teeveecat]

I'm new to CKD too, but this page was reassuring to me about raw and CKD in general:
Phosphorus Can Be Key for Kidneys

I read her article and she referred to rabbit as a good protein. I'm assuming she meant the raw version because all the canned rabbit diets for cats I see in the USA have pretty high phosphorus levels. My cat has to switch to a low phosphorus food and all she's eaten is Nature's Variety Instinct canned rabbit for over 15 years. Unfortunately the phosphorus level is over 300 mg per 100 kcal.

 

[silkenpaw]

mrsgreenjeens xcourtney3 Egg whites should be cooked because they contain a protein called avidin, which binds up the biotin (vitamin B or B7) in the food. Heat inactivates the avidin binding. If you don’t cook the egg white, your cat can become biotin deficient. Biotin is a cofactor for many enzymes, so a deficiency can have wide ranging consequences. I imagine you can get around that by supplementing biotin (I don’t know how much you’d need) or by not feeding raw egg white at every meal (again, just guessing here).

 

[Azazel]

I read her article and she referred to rabbit as a good protein. I'm assuming she meant the raw version because all the canned rabbit diets for cats I see in the USA have pretty high phosphorus levels. My cat has to switch to a low phosphorus food and all she's eaten is Nature's Variety Instinct canned rabbit for over 15 years. Unfortunately the phosphorus level is over 300 mg per 100 kcal.

Yeah the rabbit recommendation is a strange one. Rabbit in general is a meat that’s high in phosphorus and also high in protein. I think this is why Rad Cat doesn’t have a rabbit variety.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I read her article and she referred to rabbit as a good protein. I'm assuming she meant the raw version because all the canned rabbit diets for cats I see in the USA have pretty high phosphorus levels. My cat has to switch to a low phosphorus food and all she's eaten is Nature's Variety Instinct canned rabbit for over 15 years. Unfortunately the phosphorus level is over 300 mg per 100 kcal.

If your cat doesn't easily switch to a different food after being on the same one for so long, maybe your could speak to your Vet about using a phosphorus binder with the Nature's Variety Rabbit.

 

[Daisy6]

Is it better canned with phosphorus or dry medicated/renal?

I think there is only one canned food here in Argentina that is renal. And it's too expensive for me.

Can I give him raw meat? Plus one can of cat food? Does meat strain the kidneys because of the protein? Does it have too much phosphorus? My kitty loves chicken. Is it ok to give him cooked chicken?

I can't tell you how much I hate claims that CKD can be treated with dry food, but also am not a fan of wet prescription diets. A high-quialty grain-free wet food that is low in phosphorus can be found online. If your cat likes it you can subscribe for an autoship discount to save money, which adds up over the rest of her life. But I don't know what is available for shipment to Argentina.

Psst! Protein is not the probken here. It is phosphorus. Vets do not know cats just need higher quialty protein, not simply a smaller amount, from real meat because phosphorus is in all the same places except eggs.